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VOLUME 96, ISSUE 38 SMUDAILYCAMPUS.COM
DALLAS, TEXAS
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2010 FIRST COPY FREE, ADDITIONAL COPIES 50 CENTS
POLITICS
Republicans make significant gains in midterm elections By JESSICA HUSEMAN Editor-in-Chief jhuseman@smu.edu
Rep. Rick Perry defeats Democratic opponent Bill White for Texas govenor.
Dallas citizens turned out in record numbers at polling locations throughout the city to cast their votes yesterday and throughout early voting. The results were as expected, with Republicans sweeping all major seats in the SMU area. Rick Perry (R) beat out Bill White (D) and will serve a third term as governor, extending his stay as the longest serving governor in Texas’ history. White conceded to Perry in a speech before an audience in his hometown of Houston, where he spent three terms as mayor. Rick Perry won comfortably statewide, although White led in Dallas County by a 10 percent margin. The race between the two contenders for governor was a
heated one. Both White and Perry spent millions of dollars campaigning across the state, airing television ads and shaking hands with supporters. In a message to all Texans, White said, “Please understand that all of our leaders, including our national leaders, deserve respect.” He said that having respect for diversity also meant having “respect for those with a different point of view.” In a post-announcement interview with The Daily Campus, Mike Ogulnick, the Texas regional communications director for the Democratic Party said that the results were “unfortunate, but not shocking,” and said that though Bill White ran a good race, the results were “a reflection on the country.” Perry took advantage of the country’s feelings during his race, repeating the nationwide anti-Washington sentiment in his speeches and ads. In interviews leading up to yesterday’s race, Perry rarely mentioned White, instead choosing to nationalize the race by remarking on Obama’s failures in office and his declining national popularity. Perry also touted Texas’ relatively stable economy as compared to the rest of the nation. In his post-election speech just south of Austin at an exotic game ranch, Perry said, “There is a reason that our economy continues to lead the nation, and it’s not
just because the good Lord put a lot of oil and gas under our land.” This is a sentiment he repeated throughout his campaign, saying that Texas’ economy depended on low taxes and predictable laws. In his campaign ads, he placed suspicion that White would raise taxes, even going so far as to suppose that White would instate an income tax. These tactics seemed to have worked, as this will mark another win for Perry, who has never lost a race since beginning his political career over 25 years ago. This marks the first loss for White, who began his political career in 2003. Both Perry and White have been pinned as potential candidates for national positions. Perry is considered a possible 2012 presidential candidate, although he has repeatedly denied that he will run. Such a run would cut Perry’s third term short. Bill White has been pegged as a possible candidate for senate, as it is widely speculated that Kay Bailey Hutchison will not seek another term. Republican Pete Sessions won a comfortable victory over his Democratic opponent, Greer Raggio, for Texas’ 32nd congressional district. The 32nd district represents suburban areas of northwestern
See ELECTIONS on Page 3
REBECCA HANNA/ The Daily Campus
University Park Police closed Airline Rd. between University Blvd. and Fondren Rd. Monday evening after SMU student Halle E. Griggs was hit by car driving south on Airline.
Student struck by car, breaks pelvis By DAILY CAMPUS STAFF The names of the driver and the pedestrian in last night’s accident have been identified by University Park Police. In a statement to The Daily Campus, UP Police Chief Gary Adams identified the driver as 21-year-old Katherine J. Bedford and the pedestrian as 20-year-old Halle E. Griggs. Both are SMU students. “I actually have no recollection of what happened last night,” Griggs
told The Daily Campus. Griggs is recovering from a broken pelvis and is currently in stable condition at Baylor Medical Center. “First thing I knew I was parking my car to go to the library,” she said. “I woke up going to the hospital.” “The contributing factors to the accident are driver inattention and the pedestrian failed to cross at a cross walk,” Adams said. No charges were filed by the
See ACCIDENT on Page 3
Athletes playing by different set of rules Athletes not allowed to drop classes for two years By MACKENZIE O’HARA Staff Writer mohara@smu.edu
For the past two years student athletes at SMU have been forced to play by a different set of rules than the rest of the student body. Unlike other students, athletes have been unable to drop a course. But after The Daily Campus began asking questions about it, the Athletic Department abruptly canceled its no-drop policy. Athletic officials said they took this action after Provost Paul W. Ludden issued a memorandum last week to faculty and staff that made it clear that all students, including athletes, must be allowed to drop classes at will. Provost Ludden issued the memo on Thursday, Oct. 28 a few hours after The Daily Campus spoke with Brad
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Sutton, the assistant athletic director for media relations. In that interview, Sutton said the Athletic Department had a no-drop policy. But on Tuesday, Nov. 2 Sutton called the interview with The Daily Campus “out of date.” “Let me be clear on this,” Sutton wrote in Tuesday’s email interview. “Athletics will follow the provost’s directive.” Many student athletes felt the no-drop policy, which was adopted in the summer of 2009, was unfair because it forced them to remain in classes they were failing, and ultimately ended up hurting their GPAs. Former SMU football player Ben Goldthorpe was notified via email on the last day of the drop deadline last semester that he would be unable to drop a class. Dropping
the class would have had no affect on his student athlete NCAA eligibility or financial aid status, but he was still forced to remain enrolled in the class, even though it was clear he would have trouble passing the class. “There was no verbal communication” about the drop process, Goldthorpe said. The no-drop policy was enacted for many reasons, according to Sutton, including trying to decrease the number of classes student athletes drop to avoid the tuition expense incurred if he or she must take additional semesters to graduate. Sutton called the policy “extremely positive” in his Oct. 28 email. “The number of class drops has plummeted. In round numbers, student-athletes had 140 drops in the spring of 2009 and just 20 in the spring of 2010,” he wrote in the
Oct. 28 interview. In a Faculty Senate report dated Nov. 3, 2009, Athletic Policies Committee Chair Dan Orlovsky said that there was “controversy” among faculty members about the drop policy adopted by the Athletic Department. “On the one hand the new policy reinforces our desire to see fewer drops in the university. On the other it treats student athletes differently than we treat the larger student body - a situation that we oppose,” Orlovsky said. The provost made a point to single out student athletes in his memo: “All students are encouraged to seek the advice of an academic counselor before dropping a course, but it is the students’ choice See ATHLETES on Page 3 whether or not to
Dallas political parties gather to watch elections
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TYLER WILLIAMS/ The Daily Campus
Dallas Democrats filled the Jack Daniel’s Bar inside the American Airlines Center Tuesday night, as part of their watch party for the midterm elections.
See DEMOCRATS on Page 2
ELIZABETH GALANTE/ The Daily Campus
Republican supporters respond to Boehner’s speech at the Dallas Republican’s watch party for the midterm elections on Nov. 2.
See REPUBLICANS on Page 2